East Williamsburg Nerd Hipster 'Anonymous' Hacker?

An East Williamsburg residence was search by the FBI yesterday as part of a nationwide search for suspected members of the hacker group Anonymous, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

Fourteen people were reportedly arrested yesterday, but none of those arrests were in Brooklyn.

Graphic by OperationPaperStorm, Creative Commons

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Orange Moon Last Night

The moon often appears to be orange when close to the horizon, but last night the moon was bright orange when it was fairly high in the sky.

The Internet tells us that this means there is pollution or high humidity in the air.

On the other hand, it could be an omen.

Photo by MK Metz

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Walmart in 'Advanced ' Negotiations for Brooklyn Location; News Corp gets Pranked; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- The Related Companies is in advanced lease negotiations with Walmart and J.C. Penney about anchoring Gateway II in southeast Brooklyn. TRD

- News Corp gets pranked by Brooklyn sloganeer. PSFK

- A woman’s body was found in the rocks near Bay 20th Street and Shore Parkway, and police say it's homicide. Brooklyn Eagle

- GQ has named both Brooklyn and Manhattan to their list of the 40 worst-dressed cities in America. Racked

- Some details on Edible Brooklyn: The Cookbook, set to be released the first week of October. Grubstreet

- The next terror attack in New York City will likely be on the subway. Brooklyn Eagle

- Did you miss LulzSec's hack of the (London) Times? It's here. Gizmodo

- Sign up now for the sand sculpting contest at Coney Island. Brooklyn Eagle

- Sarah Palin's film "The Undefeated" actually is fairly defeated, at least when it comes to movie ratings. Huff Post

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City of Water Day Festival 2011, Brooklyn to Governors Island

McBrooklyn joined the thousands of New Yorkers who got out on the water Saturday for the City of Water Day to remember our maritime roots. Our first stop was the Waterfront Museum (aboard the 1914 Lehigh Valley Barge No. 79 shown above, left) and the 1907 Tugboat Pegasus, which were docked at Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 6.

The Waterfront Museum and Pegasus will both remain docked at Pier 6 through July 24. You can tour them most days from 3 to 5 p.m., and on several of these days there will be shows and workshops -- more details here and here.

The barge is quirky and there's an art show (Creatures of the Deep), so make sure you go on board and ask lots of questions. A family lives in the museum, down in the hold, and though they don't have windows down there they do have wi-fi.

Check out the kinetic sculpture by George Rhoades in front of the painted stage. You have to stare at it for a couple of minutes to see what happens to the balls after they crank up to the top.

Then jump aboard the Pegasus. You can wander all over this old tug. Look at the beautiful old wood interior and engine room.

We would kill for this stove.

There were projects and activities at Pier 6 Saturday for kids and adults. One of the projects was constructing your own fishing gear from recycled bottles. There was a lady who cut up something fishy which went on your hook, then over the side it went. We were terribly afraid we would catch something.

From there we decided to take the ferry to Governors Island, where the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance and its partners were throwing a giant maritime festival.

There were exhibits and activities all over the island. The Army Corps of Engineers set up tanks filled with living creatures that swim in the ocean right off Brooklyn.

These included rays (left) and horseshoe crabs (right), which you might accidentally step on while swimming at Coney Island.

Among the advocacy groups was the Stop Fracking Now organization. Do you know that New York City's drinking water may soon be polluted with toxic chemicals used to squeeze natural gas out of rocks underground?

Sign an anti-fracking petition now (and view the Colbert Report's interview with ex-Gov. Tom Ridge, a powerful pro- fracking lobbyist).

There were lots of kids activities. Disney gave away toys and books.

There were games for older people too. This one was called "hunter-gatherers."

After a day of wandering around the island we were tired and happy to hop back on the ferry to Pier 6 and home. It was a fun and education day -- and it was all free, including the ferry rides.

City of Water Day Festival was sponsored by the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance. Pier 6 activities provided by Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy.

Photos copyright MK Metz

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People Were Looking Up on Henry Street Yesterday

It only lasted a minute, then it blew away.

Photo by MK Metz

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Maybe Someone Should Look Into These Odd Happenings

Is it just us or are the police being deliberately obtuse in this case involving the bizarre deaths of a CEO's son and girlfriend at his house in California?

"No connection has been made between the two incidents" and "investigators haven't determined whether" the girlfriend's death was a homicide or not.

BTW, the girlfriend "was discovered nude with a rope around her neck, hanging from a balcony off the main house, with her hands and feet bound."

Nothing happening here people, keep walking.

Wall Street Journal

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Kanye West Makes Suprise Appearance at Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival

That loud applause you heard Saturday was the crowd when Kanye West showed up unexpectedly at the Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival in DUMBO during Q-Tip’s set.

From HipHopDX: "The crowd erupted when Kanye West took the stage, and assisted Q-Tip in performing "Award Tour," as well as "Dark Fantasy" and "All of the Lights" from My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy."

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Where Missing Socks Really Go

They go to Williamsburg, of course.

Hung on a wall over a sign reading: "It socks to be lonely. In memory of socks that have lost a buddy."

Photo by MK Metz

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Molester In Downtown Brooklyn; Mummy Smuggling; Scarano Loses; and More Brooklyn Briefs

- Police search for man accused of molesting 5-year-old-girl in Downtown Brooklyn. CGP

- A Brooklyn man beat his teen stepdaughter to death yesterday, drove away in his Mercedes, flipped the car, and was arrested. NY Daily News

- Construction protest at 20 Henry Street. Brooklyn Eagle

- Mummy smuggling ring busted in Brooklyn. Gothamist

- Court: Architect Scarano is absolutely banned from filing construction plans. TRD

- Man who dismembered 8-year-old boy is pulling the old "hearing voices" excuse. SFGate

- Complaints about speeding dollar vans blowing through the stop signs at Prospect Place and Carlton. Brooklynian

- A Bay Ridge Assemblywoman is fighting to get bus service restored to the community, and it's starting to work. Brooklyn Eagle

- 7 tools to make your bike commute less terrible. Gizmodo

- Scientists find evidence that global warming is eroding the ability of the ocean to soak up CO2, which may lead to even more global warming. TheNews

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Storm Did Not Scare Off Opera Fans at Brooklyn Bridge Park Wednesday Night

Who says opera is dead? The beautiful singing at last night's Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital was appreciated by hundreds (thousands?) at Brooklyn Bridge Park (and also folks who gathered along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, some with opera glasses). Tenor Dimitri Pittas completed his set before the rain began.

As Angela Meade, soprano, and Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano, began a lovely duet (with Bradley Moore on piano), drops started to fall and umbrellas opened.

The singers finished a number in spite of the wind which was starting to whip their hair, umbrellas and ground coverings.

The skies opened up and some of the audience started to head for the hills. Production crew speaking into their walkie-talkies: "Turn off the power." "No, leave the power on."

But wait! After just a few minutes the rain tapered off -- and a rainbow stretched across the sky, from the Watchtower to the Hotel St. George.

Most of the audience, soaking wet, wrung out their clothes and came back. The performers reassembled and the show went on.

The sopranos' beautiful duet could be heard up on the Promenade, along Columbia Heights, and throughout Brooklyn Heights.

Photos copyright MK Metz

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